Super apps and widgets in CIQ 4.0

Hi, on the Garmin virtual conference you mentioned that in the CIQ 4.0 widgets will go away, and they will merge with device apps.

I had a good discussion with one user today. He uses a GRouteLoader IQ widget, so he can display the widget while the navigation is running on his EDGE device. He can download a new tour and replan the tour on the go. This is really cool and cannot be done with standard device apps. It means he does not need to stop the recording, and he can change the tour which is he navigating. There is a good article about it: https://www.mysysadmintips.com/other/mobile-devices/928-download-course-route-from-garmin-connect-while-activity-is-running

Is this use case also considered with the new super apps? Will I be able to start "a part of my app" when the navigation is running? And when this CIQ 4.0 functionality is planned to be released (and on which devices)?

It seems it does not make sense to create a separate widget now, and rather wait for the super apps. Is this correct? AlphaMonkeyC

FlowState 1 month ago in reply to FlowState

AlphaMonkeyC Brandon.ConnectIQ

TL;DR the downside of CIQ 4 super apps is that old CIQ widget apps which worked perfectly fine as a full-screen widget or a glance no longer do so, in some cases. They just become plain device apps with no glance view, which is not acceptable for certain types of apps which rely on "widget" functionality (i.e. ability to launch the app during an activity.)

This has happened irl more than once, based on posts in the forums.

My suggestions to mitigate this problem are:

- When an app with type "widget" (in the manifest) is compiled for CIQ 4 devices, the compiler could add a default glance view or at the very least, warn the dev that they should do so

- When an app with type "widget" (in the manifest) is auto-migrated to CIQ 4 devices, the migration process should add a default glance view. If this isn't possible, it shouldn't be migrated

Users don't care about super apps, they still think of any app with a glance view as a "widget". (This includes people whose livelihood is based on blogging about Garmin products.)

(I suppose now that CIQ 5 / System 7 has left all the old devices (with CIQ < 4) behind, and monetization only applies to newer watches, this kind of thing will be even less of an issue over time. Meaning the focus has probably shifted to the newest devices and apps, whether we like it or not.)